Police appeal for witnesses after teenage girl is sexually assaulted in town centre

DETECTIVES are hunting a man who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl as she walked through the town centre.

Police were called to Westfield Street at around 10pm on Sunday (April 6) following reports that a teenage girl had been attacked.

She had been walking along the street when a man ran past and touched her inappropriately over her clothes before escaping on foot.

The offender is described as white in his mid 20s with blond hair and a straight fringe. At the time he was wearing a grey tracksuit.

Detectives have checked CCTV in the area and are urging anyone with information to call them.

Detective Constable Dave Bruce said: "A teenage girl has been left very upset by the actions of this person and I would like to reassure the community that we will not tolerate incidents of this nature and we are working hard to identify the man responsible.

"This is a busy street and at even at this time of night it is possible someone might have seen something. I would appeal to anyone who was in the area at this time and might have seen the incident to contact police as this could really help our enquiries.

"If you do have anyone information please call the St Helens CID team on 0151 777 6049, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."